» News: PCA General Assembly Overtures

Examining the recordings of the PCA General Assembly committee of Bills and Overtures, we may now report action on the following Overtures:

Overture 1 from Southeast Alabama Presbytery (to CCB & OC)
"Revise BCO 35-7 to Omit Transcript of Testimony" - NEGATIVE

Overture 2 from Presbytery of New Jersey (to CCB and OC)
"Delete 'or' and substitute 'the' in BCO 56-4.d." - NEGATIVE

Overture 4 from Westminster Presbytery (to CCB & OC)
"Revise BCO 21-1 Regarding Presbytery's Declining to Approve a Pastoral Call" - NEGATIVE

Overture 9 from James River Presbytery (to CCB & OC)
"Revise RAO 15-2 to Limit Service on Overtures Committee to Three Consecutive Assemblies" - NEGATIVE

Overture 10 from The Presbytery of Eastern Canada (to CCB and OC)
"Amend BCO 12-1 and 12-2 to Change Quorum Requirements for Session Meetings" - AFFIRMATIVE (with ammendments to perfect the language)

Overture 13 from Alexandria Presbyterian Church (VA), Rejected by Potomac Presbytery (to CCB and OC)
"Revise BCO 13-1; 14-2 to Require Church Giving to Higher Courts in order to Vote in Higher Courts" - NEGATIVE

Overture 14 from North Texas Presbytery (to OC)
"Resolution of Praise to God for the Ministry of TE Paul G. Settle" - AFFIRMATIVE

Overture 15 from Potomac Presbytery (to OC, CCB)
"Amend BCO 21-4, Paragraph 7, Regarding Teaching Approved Exceptions" - NEGATIVE (Vote: 58-1-0)

Overture 16 from Southeast Alabama Presbytery (to OC)
"Honor RE W. Jack Williamson" - (~ AFFIRMATIVE, already acted upon in the assembly, no need to vote)

Overture 21 - NEGATIVE

Overture 7 from James River Presbytery (to CCB & OC)
"Add 'from presbyteries' to RAO 11-1" - AFFIRMED

Overture 8 from James River Presbytery (to CCB & OC)
"Revise RAO 14-8.d and RAO 19-2 to Delete Oral Reading of Reports" - AFFIRMED

The following Overtures were not mentioned in the reports of the committees we have reviewed, and we will continue our attempt to find the outcomes. In the cases of Overtures 20 and 21, neither of these were included in the original list of overtures. Most of the remaining overtures below concern Presbytery configuration changes.

Overture 17 from Tennessee Valley Presbytery (to MNA)
"Change Boundaries of Tennessee Valley Presbytery"

Overture 18 from Nashville Presbytery (to MNA)
"Change Boundaries of Nashville Presbytery"

Overture 19 from Heartland Presbytery (to MNA)
"Divide Heartland Presbytery; Create Platte Valley Presbytery"

Overture 20 - ?

Overture 3 from Metropolitan New York (to MNA)
"Redefine Metropolitan New York Boundary" -

Overture 5 from New York State Presbytery (to MNA)
"Redefine Boundary New York State Presbytery"

Overture 6 from Philadelphia Metro West (to AC)
"Commemorate 500th Anniversary of Calvin's Birth"

Overture 11 from James River Presbytery (to MNA)
"Change Boundaries of James River Presbytery"

Overture 12 from Eastern Carolina Presbytery (to MNA)
"Change Boundaries of Eastern Carolina Presbytery"

» News: PCA General Assembly Wrap-Up

Complete archives of the PCA General Assembly videocast are now available in Windows Media format. This format is playable on both Windows and Mac computers.

The assembly finished its work on Thursday. As previously reported, on Wednesday the PCA voted by a large majority (90 to 95% by most estimates observed online) to adopt the recommendations of the Federal Vision / New Perspectives Study Committee. The Assembly's adoption of the recommendations has the following effects: 1. The assembly commends the committee's report to the PCA for consideration, 2. The assembly reminds the PCA of the role of the Westminster Standards "as standard expositions of the teachings of Scripture in relation to both faith and practice", 3. The assembly commends the 9 declarations of the report to the denomination as "a faithful exposition of the Westminster Standards" and calls upon ruling and teaching elders to inform "their courts" (i.e., sessions, presbyteries) of any differences between their views and the 9 declarations, 4. The assembly reminds Sessions and Presbyteries of its duty to exercise doctrinal oversight, and 5. The assembly dismisses the study committee with thanks.

The nine declarations of the report now become the focus of the PCA's consideration. The declarations each have the form of stating that a particular view associated with either the Federal Vision or New Perspectives on Paul is contrary to the Westinster Standards. Two questions confront Presbyteries as they examine elders who are either accused of holding suspect views or elders who submit their views to Presbyteries for consideration: a. do their views in fact fall under one of nine disallowed views, and b. if so, will their views be considered allowable exceptions or become grounds for further discipline. Currently the PCA does not have uniformity with regards to what exceptions are allowable or disallowable by every presbytery. One case is presently before the Standing Judicial Commission (SJC) that tangentially involves the Federal Vision issues; it relates to the procedures used by one presbytery in its examination and exoneration of a minister accused of holding views associated with the Federal Vision that are out of accord with the Westminster Standards. As a result of the SJC's inquiry, the presbytery, Louisiana Presbytery, conducted a reexamination of the minister in question, Steve Wilkins, in accordance with the SJC's instructions to keep minutes and record the examination (recordings available in MP3 - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4). On January 20th, the Louisiana Presbytery met to consider the issue and voted to forward its decision that there is no "no strong presumption of guilt" against Wilkins, together with a copy of the oral exam transcript, recording, and Wilkins's written responses. The next action in this case will come from the SJC and we will report any action when it occurs. The only other judicial case arising from challenges to ministers based upon alleged violations of the Westminster Standards with regard to the issues associated with the Federal Vision was handled by the Pacific Northwest Presbytery in the case of Peter Leithart (report pdf). The Northwest Presbytery examined Leithart and issued its report, stating the need to devote further time to investigating the issues involved with the Federal Vision perspective. It did not find sufficient warrant to discipline Leithart, but recommended studying the issues further.

The General Assembly is not specifically a time for theological controversy - by far the vast majority of floor time at the General Assembly is spent reviewing the ministries and activities of the church. Commissioners heard reports from the denominational seminary, Covenant Seminary, as well as the various missions committees of the church - Mission to North America, and Mission to the World. A video presentation highlighted two PCA works that seek racial reconciliation and community integration between caucasians, African Americans, and Hispanic Americans.

In the Thursday morning report of Covenant Seminary Bryan Chapell noted that 250,000 people per month download the seminary's online courses. The seminary has experienced 17 consecutive years of annual record enrollment. Chapell showed photographs of the building process of "Founders Hall" - a new addition to the campus, doubling the number of classrooms. Chapell noted that 300 hours of supervised field work are now required of M.Div. students. Covenant's placement rate is over 90% in the last decade for those seeking ministry positions with the school's recommendation. The retention rate (for the first 5 years in ministry) is four times the seminary average in North Ameirca. One in four M.Div. graduates will plant a new church within 8 years of graduation. Chapell emphasized that the seminary teaches from a "grace perspective" - love for Christ overcomes love of sin; redemption is more than freedom from guilt, it is freedom from the alluring power of sin. Chapell emphasized the qualities of this generation of incoming students - most are concerned to break down walls of prejudice, antipathy and class, wanting to teach confessional theology beyond traditional social boundaries.

RN will report on the outcome of the various overtures in a future story.

» News: PCA General Assembly Continues

Part of the work of a General Assembly is the hearing of reports by the various ministries that are undertaken by the church. Yesterday, the reports of Reformed University Fellowship (WMA Link) and Covenant College (WMA Link) were received. Reformed University Fellowship is a campus ministry of the PCA that places an ordained pastor on a college campus to organize fellowship and discipling activities among college students. RUF attempts to integrate college students into the local church, and part of the presentation consisted of testimonies from students who benefitted from the ministry. This morning, the denominational seminary, Covenant Theological Seminary, presented a report (we will add link when the archive becomes available). Reports from the other broad ministries of the church both in the USA and abroad will be presented later today (Mission to North America and Mission to the World).

» News: PCA Adopts Recommendations of FV Study Committee

After rejecting a motion to postpone consideration of the report, the PCA General Assembly today adopted the recommendations of its Study Committee by a large majority. The committee report is available here (PDF). See our liveblogging below for a summary of the flow of the discussion.

We are making available an MP3 of the Federal Vision Committee Discussion: mp3 (20 MB).

» News: PCA GA, Day 2, Afternoon

We will blogging about the Federal Vision discussion in this space as it happens.

1:40 - Considering ammendment to SJC rules about making judicial briefs available to GA delegates so that they can understand the context of judicial cases. "new business" suggested by David Coffin. New Business was accepted.

1:44 - Ridge Haven Conference Center Report

1:51 - Report of cooperative ministries committee

1:53 - Singing a Hymn

1:54 - Streaker just ran by the camera (kidding - just checking you're awake)

1:57 - Paul Fowler presents the report, opens with prayer.

2:00 - Fowler introduces the committee members, calling it a "diverse" committee to which all the members contributed. He says, "This is a debate about what constitutes the fundmentals of our system of doctrine."

2:16 - Ligon Duncan defends the substance of the report, counters some common criticisms, including asking that the process objections be set aside in favor of the content

2:18 - Sean Lucas now defends the 9 declarations, characterizing them as relating to "fixed points" of doctrine vital to the standards.

2:30 - John White now presents the recommendations of the committee report and defends a focus on the standards.

2:43 - Discussion begins with George Robertson speaking for the report

2:45 - Speech against the report on the grounds that it does not exegete scripture - speaker is Larry Hoop

2:48 - Motion by Joe Novenson to delay the report for a year, add exegesis, add indications of the positive contributions of NPP, add 2 additional members who are sympathetic to NPP / FV

2:53 - John Day speaks in favor of the motion to delay

2:54 - Jeff Hutchinson speaks against motion to postpone, focuses upon other NAPARC denominations that have spoken to the issue already

2:56 - Paul Gilchrist speaks in favor of the motion to delay, based upon lack of scriptural exegesis - compares the report to the emperor who has no clothes - the report needs the clothes of exegesis.

3:02 (Missed a few back and forth) - now there is someone from GA speaking against the motion, defending the confessional focus of the report.

3:04 - Substitute motion to receive report yet allow the committee to add scripture proofs during the assembly - not allowed.

3:06 - Howard Q. Davis - speaks for the motion in order to heal perception of unfairness.

3:07 - Dewey Roberts - speaks against the substitute - calls it a "smokescreen" that the FV / NPP claims they are not fairly understood. Issue "is the most important decision we've ever had to make because it deals with the matter of justification by faith." Says "this error is insidious."

3:10 - David Cassidy - in favor of Novenson substitute motion

3:11 - Steve McGee - speaks against the motion, says body can affirm the existing report and then commission another report about biblical issues

3:13 - Jeff White - speaks for the motion, notes agreement with 9 declarations, but would like a more charitable report to aid peace and unity of church.

3:15 - Ken Clarke (sp?) - Speaks against the motion, calls this the "tip of the iceberg" and says urgency exists

3:16 - Joe Mullin - speaks in favor of the motion, appreciates the idea of bringing exegesis of scripture into the report in order to "undergird" it.

3:17 - R.C. Sproul - focuses upon justification, imputation speaks against the motion, the "purity of the PCA" is at stake. "This is the gospel that we're talking about, gentlemen." Motion is like "asking the accused to become members of the jury."

3:19 - Craig Higgins speaks in favor of the motion - quotes Schaefer about not "choosing between an orthodoxy of doctrine and an orthodoxy of community".

3:22 - Wes Holland - speaks against the motion. Urgency is needed, churches are being divided.

3:24 - Harry Long rises to make motion to address the first four committee recommendations by vote and give them time to "address the emperor" before ruling on the 5th recommendation. Motion is out of order.

3:26 - DeGraaf - "there are men standing at microphones .... not being recognized ... in the order" etc. Moderator explains balancing the for / against.

3:28 - Andrew Voelkel speaks in favor of motion - report does not provide Presbyteries any guidance on how to oppose FV - such as suggested study questions

3:30 - David Coffin - speaks against procedural motion - believes standards are sufficient, further exegesis is not needed, is "dubious" that there can be any credible expressions of "good things" that the NPP has to offer, finally argues against sympathetic members - uses analogy of inclusion of Arian on committee dealing with deity of Christ.

3:34 - Debate not extended. Motion to postpone going up for vote.

3:35 - Paul Fowler speaks to defend the report and advocates against the motion, pointing to the committee's faithfulness to its mandate.

3:37 - Vote on the motion with cards: prayer prior to vote. Motion to postpone: fails.

3:39 - back to main motion

3:40 - Tom Cox defers time to Microphone 10 - Dave Sarfolian Great Lakes Presbytery - speaks in favor of the study committee report to address allegations of the report's being railroaded through. Mentions Missouri Presbytery report as a previously rejected consensus report.

3:41 - Question whether the committee contacted FV men; response from Fowler is "no"; committee decided not to engage the FV until after the report, then after report's completion decided that further engagement not necessary. Defends focusing on written sources. Mentions reading blogs as well.

3:44 - Time expired, debate is not extended.

3:45 - Committee Report accepted by card vote. All rise to sing a hymn.

3:49 - Administrative Committee Report presented. We will cease liveblogging at this point for a moment in order to take a break.

» News: PCA General Assembly Day 2

Will be blogging in this spot throughout the day.

10:30 a.m. - Today began with the singing of "The Church's One Foundation"

10:39 a.m. - Report of the Stated Clerk, Roy Taylor - annual membership growth rate of 1%, but many presbyteries do not report statistics. We now have churches in all 50 States.

10:44 a.m. - Now Taylor is talking about overtures. There is no commissioner's handbook PDF online as far as we have been able to see, but we will post a link if such is posted.

10:59 a.m. - Term limits for SJC members was defeated

11:02 a.m. - Discussing overture #7 (PDF) - it passed. Overture #8 (PDF) passed. All the overtures can be read here.

11:09 a.m. - Passed a few recommendations all at once in omnibus fashion. Prayer now for fraternal delegates from other churches to speak.

11:12 a.m. - Rev. Jack Sawyer, OPC (Pineville, LA) speaks to the assembly as fraternal delegate. OPC has grown by 2% this year. OPC will be receiving a report on illegal immigration at its GA this week. OPC also received a report on the Federal Vision / NPP and it is available in pamphlet form. Sawyer expresses the OPC's interest in the PCA's deliberation of the Federal Vision issue. Sawyer also memorialized a few ministers who passed away this year.

11:20 a.m. - URCNA Minister to speak - a Pastor Freswick of Bethany United Reformed Church, Wyoming MI. URCNA will be seeking to find a way to reciprocate fraternal relations with the PCA, though its rules do not currently allow this. URCNA Synod in early July will consider union with Canadian Reformed Church and will also consider a Federal Vision report. He is now speaking against paedocommunion and wondering why the PCA FV report contains nothing about paedocommunion. He praised the PCA's proposed report as well. Paul Gilchrist, of the Interchurch Relations Committee commended the PCA's previous report on paedocommunion to the URCNA delegate stating we were 'way ahead' on the issue.

11:28 a.m. - Presbyterian Church of Brazil representative, David Gomez, speaking to the assembly... 4% growth per year of Presbyterian Church in Brazil, and they now have nine seminaries and one post-graduate theological institution. Sending missionaries to 28 countries around the world.

11:35 a.m. - Korean Presbyterian Church representative speaking, Kim In-hwan, President of Chongshin Seminary.

11:42 a.m. - Rev. James Holland, EPC representative speaks and brings fraternal greetings. Their assembly meets next week.

11:44 a.m. - Brief introductions of other fraternal delegates. End of Interchurch Relations Report. (Some laughter about a "false fire alarm" notification that came through the PA system from the facility)

11:49 a.m. - Prayer and recess for Lunch

(Note: It isn't our intent to "live blog" the entire General Assembly, but we will update pretty frequently throughout each day.)

» News: PCA General Assembly Commences

The 35th annual PCA General Assembly began this evening at 7:30 central time in Memphis, TN. We will be posting updates through the evening as news emerges. You can watch the broadcast of the General Assembly opening worshipping service online at the PCA General Assembly website. Earlier, the Real Audio stream was not working, but the Windows Media stream worked fine.

9:18 pm Update: The worship service is over and there is a short intermission before the election of a new moderator.

10:09 pm Update: E.J. Nusbaum, Ruling Elder at Village Seven Presbyterian Church in Colorado Springs, CO is the new moderator of General Assembly. Nusbaum was the sole nominee. Previous moderator, Dominic Aquila, currently serves as Interim Pastor of Village Seven Presbyterian Church. At the 33rd General Assembly, Nusbaum served as Secretary of the Committee on Constitutional Business (CCB), class of 2007. At the 32nd General Assembly, Nusbaum was also secretary of the CCB. At the 31st General Assembly, Nusbaum served on the CCB, though he was not an officer at that point. Nusbaum is a graduate of the United States Military Academy (West Point), serving seven years of active duty. He has worked as an insurance agent since 1985. He was ordained to the office of Ruling Elder in 1987 and served as Clerk of Session for five years. He also has served on the Rocky Mountain Presbytery MNA Committee among other service rendered to the church. Active in politics and government, in 2005, Nusbaum testified in the Colorado Senate committee on Business, Labor, and Technology against Senate Bill 5 that attempted to restrict the use of credit scoring by insurers in underwriting and rating purposes. He also testified before the House Committee on Business Affairs and Labor in opposition to a similar House bill.

» New: Friday News Roundup, Part 1

PCA: General Assembly meets next week, online webcast will be available, and RN will post a link when it becomes available. Currently, there are two websites - pcaga.com and pcaga.org - and the content appears to be spread across the two at this moment. As previously reported, a group of PCA ministers supportive of the GA FV committee published an open letter with an accompanying website. The website now has more content, including responses to specific objections to the report made by the earlier Open Letter by another group of ministers in opposition to the report. The writers of the "humble answers" document have solicited signatures to the letter, and we will link to the signature list once it is made available. RN has learned that the "30 Reasons" paper written by Jeffrey Meyers in response to the committee's report was mailed to every PCA session in the United States. Joel Garver has published a multi-part review and critique of the FV Study Committee Report: (Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9). Covenant Radio has posted a podcast that consists of a roundtable discussion with PCA Pastors Mark Horne, Jeffrey Meyers, and Mark Duncan about the Study Committee Report (MP3). Attorney and PCA member Jordan Mark Siverd has released a legal analysis (PDF) of the FV study committee report. Siverd also has created an online petition asking the 35th General Assembly to recommit the report.

» News: Pastors Draft "Pastoral Letter" on PCA FV Report

A group of ten ministers has written a "pastoral letter" concerning the Federal Vision study committee report releasedto be considered in June at the PCA's General Assembly in Memphis, TN. This letter first came to our attention at the blog of PCA Deacon, Joel Garver. Download the letter here (PDF). The signatories are: Vito Aiuto, Matt Brown, Ray Cannata, Sam Downing, Josh Eby, John Haralson, Mike Khandjian, Iron Kim, Sam Wheatley, and Shayne Wheeler.

The letter divides its discussion into seven issues - the procedure of the committee's appointment, the issue of confessional interpretation, the issue of election, covenant theology, ecclesiology, baptism, and justification. The letter concludes, "Fellow presbyters, until the committee clarifies these issues, it would be premature for us to ratify their report. We encourage you to carefully and prayerfully think through these issues and not enter into this vote hastily. We are convinced that the report as it now stands lacks the quality and scholarship of a PCA General Assembly position paper. "

Vito Aiuto is the pastor of Resurrection Presbyterian Church in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Matt Brown is the pastor of Park Slope Presbyterian Church in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

Ray Cannata is the pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church of New Orleans, LA.

Sam Downing is the pastor of City Presbyterian Church in Denver, CO.

Josh Eby pastors at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, TN.

John Haralson is pastor of Grace Seattle in Seattle, WA.

Mike Khandjian is pastor of Chapelgate Presbyterian Church in Marriotsville, MD.

Iron Kim is pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Orange, CA.

Sam Wheatley is pastor of Newsong Presbyterian Church in Salt Lake City, UT.

Shayne Wheeler is pastor of All Souls Fellowship in Decatur, GA.

Discuss the pastoral letter in our forums.

» News Release: By Faith Online's Forthcoming Issue

Received this letter today from By Faith, the magazine of the PCA - PDF. This press release is a promotional item about the next issue of the magazine. We will report on ByFaith's progress in gaining subscribers to its print publication after the report at June's General Assembly. At last year's PCA General Assembly, some discussion took place about the future of the magazine and its need for more subscribers. By Faith contains some denominational news, but its primary focus is on the people of the PCA and their ministries and would be appropriate reading for anyone in any Reformed denomination because of its positive tone and focus. By Faith Online is the web version of the magazine.

» Feature: Poll

more at twiigs.com...

» News: PCA Federal Vision / NPP Committee Report Modified

The Presbyterian Church in America's Federal Vision / NPP study committee report appeared on the news magazine By Faith Online on about the 7th of May (printout of original). This week, the PCA posted another draft, newly formatted, to the General Assembly website (pdf). The two drafts are nearly identical, content-wise, but the committee made at least one content change that some bloggers online have noticed.

In one section, the original report reads:

Furthermore, some FV writers have also denied that the covenant can be viewed from two different aspects. John Barach observed that "the Bible doesn't know about a distinction between being internally in the covenant, really in the covenant, and being only externally in the covenant." Likewise, Steve Wilkins argued that "all in covenant are given all that is true of Christ." Doug Wilson has implied that all baptized covenant members are participants in Christ in the same "strong sense," writing that "the person who did not persevere was not given less of Christ."

In response to this section of the report, Douglas Wilson notes that the writing referenced by the committee for this "implication" actually affirms the opposite. Likewise, the response of Jeffrey Meyers notes this error.

The revised report reads this way:

Furthermore, some FV writers have also denied that the covenant can be viewed from two different aspects. John Barach observed that "the Bible doesn't know about a distinction between being internally in the covenant, really in the covenant, and being only externally the covenant." Likewise, Steve Wilkins argued that "all in covenant are given all that is true of Christ."

The sentence regarding Wilson's views has been removed in the version of the report that will be distributed to GA commisioners in the General Assembly in Memphis this June. The questions some are asking online include: what motivated the change? which report is the official one? will further changes be made prior to the GA meeting?

In an attempt to understand the factors motivating the committee to change the report, RN contacted the committee on May 17th to inquire about the content change. Committee Chair, Paul Fowler provided no explanation and noted in an email, acquired by RN, to his fellow committee members, "Any suggestions on how to respond? Since we agreed not to respond to such sites, I am not sure what to do?" In the end, Fowler responded "We simply will not get involved in the blogs."

Previously, on May 16th, Fowler responded favorably to our request for a response from the committee concerning Meyers' paper, writing, "We will respond when we have opportunity to evaluate it."

We will continue to develop this story and keep you informed if Fowler or the committee releases further clarification.

» News: PCA Minister Responds to GA FV Committee Report

Breaking News Today: Pastor Jeffrey J. Meyers of Providence Reformed Presbyterian Church (PCA) in St. Louis, MO has released a response to the GA committee's proposed report about the Federal Vision controversy. Meyers titled his response 30 Reasons Why It Would be Unwise for the PCA General Assembly to Adopt the Federal Vision Study Report and Its Recommendations.

Meyers previously served on the Missouri Presbytery's study committee (PDF of their report) that considered some of the same issues comprehended in the denominational study committee report.

Editorial Comment: We hope to arrange interviews with Meyers and with committee members if they are willing to discuss the '30 Reasons' provided by Meyers in his response. We'll also be monitoring the blogosphere to get a feel for the zeitgeist. As far as we are aware, there has been little to no discussion of the committee report so far. As always, send us links if we are missing any interesting or inspiring news in the Reformed world.

» Discussion: This Summer's General Assemblies

Every summer reformed Christians turn their attention to Synods, Assemblies, Presbytery Meetings and assorted other outlets for pure Robert's Rules of Order-goodness. Personally, we here at RN are dying to learn what progress has been made towards the creation of a PCA logo. The PCA Historian is slated to give a report at the General Assembly, but when contacted for comment, remained tight-lipped about the "look" of the logo or even whether there would be a logo ready in time. What are you looking forward to in your denomination's summer meeting? What are you dreading? Click on the discussion link below to let us know. Be sure to include in your comments an indication of which denomination you're discussing so that other readers can nod in solidarity.

» News: PCA Federal Vision Study Report in Under the Wire

The PCA Federal Vision Study Report is currently available only at the PCA's denominational magazine. The General Assembly commissioner's handbook has been mailed out to participants and does not contain the report.

Committee member Sean Lucas reports that "the report will be part of the supplemental packet that all commissioners will receive when the register for GA. The committee literally worked until the very last day before the supplemental materials were to go to the printer. However, we wanted to make sure that commissioners had access to it prior to GA; that was why it was distributed first through ByFaithonline."

The lengthy report will be considered for adoption between 2:00 and 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 13 at the PCA's 34th General assembly in Memphis.

Editorial Comment: So far, there has been little debate of the report's content in the blogosphere. We will keep our ears to the ground and alert readers to discussions that develop.